My last Motorola phone

[charlie310]

1. Had to return 4 Droid Bionics due to software/hardware issues (that equals 1 of 5 Droid Bionics actually worked).

2. The working Bionic i have has now started to glitch, drop data, and drop GPS frequently, at least 40% of the time (this has been going on for 2 months).

3. The kinks and glitches can't be fixed by the community when you lock the bootloaders. We have to wait for Motorola, and we all know how long this takes.

4. Motorola releases new smartphones so often that any phone you buy from them will be left in the dust. The few developers willing to develop this phone abandoned the Bionic as soon as the Razr was released a month later.

5. The Razr, Razr Maxx, & Droid 4 all got official ICS before the Bionic and the Bionic was released before all 3 of these phones.

6. This phone doesn't even sell for $200 brand new because everyone knows it's crap. A used Galaxy S2 sells for much more, and it was released 3 months earlier and doesn't even have LTE.

I'm done with Motorola phones.

 

[DDave]

I've had nothing but issues with my (and my wife has too) Bionic. I also may not buy another Moto device.

This issue has been going on since the day I had it, replaced it once due to a bad 4G radio and still have not had reliable service.

I have a work phone that is also 4G and on Verizon (Galaxy Nexus) and have NEVER had data drops. ON a recent vacation I had to use my work phone in order to navigate, because I could not get a data connection to setup the route.

Extremely frustrating...

... and I know there are those that say, its not the phone, but when I can set two phones (Moto and a Samsung) on the same network in the same room... and 1 cannot hold onto a 4G connegtion... I say it is a fault phone.

It is possible that ICS will address this problem... as the GN is running ICS.

My 2 cents.

 

[jerry42570]

My wife's Bionic frequently still has data drops - especially when going back and forth between 3G and 4G. She always seemed to have this happen to her much more frequently than me - even before I flashed one of the ICS leaks.

I do see this complaint frequently. I also remember seeing many former Droid X owners complain about holding onto to data when they switched to Galaxy Nexuses - despite really wanting to like the phone. That made me shy away from getting one, but now my brother who lives ten minutes away from me loves his Galaxy Nexus.

Personally, if I had your experiences with the two phones I'd sell on of the Bionics and buy a used Galaxy Nexus off of Swappa (today's most listed phone on Swappa is the Galaxy Nexus) or EBay. I only have a few months left with VZW so it wouldn't be worth it for me. Plus, I really like the Bionic lapdock and plan to continue using it after my family switches carriers.

But - before doing any of that would you be up for flashing the .232 ICS leak? Worked wonders for me.

http://androidforums.com/motorola-d...links-help-you-ics-back-updated-8-4-12-a.html

 

[xmichaelx]

I've heard that a lot of people have had Bionic problems. I've known a lot though (including me) who've never had a problem and love their Bionic.

I suspect that Moto had a couple of bad batches.

Whatever the case, I'm with you: I'll just stick to Nexuses from now on. Waiting for updates is annoying when you've spent so much $$ on a device.

 

[Thom]

... and I know there are those that say, its not the phone, but when I can set two phones (Moto and a Samsung) on the same network in the same room... and 1 cannot hold onto a 4G connegtion... I say it is a fault phone.

Where the two phones side-by-side?

The worst case I ever saw in this forum was ... same phone on one end of a desk worked fine ... moved 5' away to other end of the desk and it had data drops.

... Thom

 

[Adara]

I'm on my third Bionic. (First up and died. I mean died died. Wouldn't power on even with a new battery. Second was replaced by VZW in what they claimed was an attempt to fix the data drop issues, but what I now think was a way to buy themselves some time with the data drop issues, as the third dropped data just as much as the second one did.)

I flashed .232 and am very happy with the results, particularly data drop-wise.

At the same time, I agree with the OP that I've just about had my fill with Motorola phones (got here via the OG Droid, which seemed obsolete a good six months before the 2 year contract expired). I'm definitely taking a good close look at Samsung for the happy day when my Bionic contract runs out.

My real issue is that I've also just about had my fill with VZW's crap tech support (the litany of "fixes" they came up with for the data drops is laughable -- particularly when read against the things other customers have posted that they've been told) and, with the upcoming near-demise (unless one pays full price for a phone) of unlimited data, I'm seriously considering whether it isn't time to jump ship to another carrier.

(Then again, I left VZW before, for Cingular, only to come running back when AT&T bought Cingular, and their customer service dropped like a stone.) They probably all kinda suck just now.

Sigh.

 

[Thom]

I suspect that Moto had a couple of bad batches.

Suspect ... no ... recorded in history. The worst was apparently a rail car load of units that were on their way to Radio Shack. This resulted in Radio Shack pulling the Bionic off the shelves. It was a fun period.

These were problems where hard to track because they happened here and there around the country and might have been tower problems as the various upgrades were being made.

The Radio Shack instance is the only one that really got reported because of the fact that they pulled them off the shelves.

... Thom

 

[dave1812]

I'm done with Motorola phones.

OK......

 

[DDave]

They were both on my desk side/side and when on vacation both in my hands, (dont rememnber which one was left and which one was right)

.. and I find it funny that 5' would make that much of a difference, not saying it couldnt, but come on...

Ok, sorry for the Smart Arse remarks... Its just been frustrating...Giving ICS a chance to fix it... if it doesnt, I may never go Moto again...

And when it DOES work, its damn fast... so dont think I'm Mr. Negativity... or I'll sick ED209 on you.. ;-)

 

[wildkitten]

Personally I don't think it's the Bionic or Motorola. I think the fault lies squarely on Verizon and a bad implementation of the network.

Is it possible there are some bad Bionics out there? Of course, EVERY model phone has some bad units, and not just phones, but any electronic devices.

The issue to me comes into play why did things work so great for a long time (for most people at least) once 889 came out and even with 902, right up until just before 905 came out? My personal opinion is that Verizon is playing around with the network, at least in some areas cause not everyone is noticing these problems, which then causes conflict with the software in the phones.

Some people want to blame 905 for this, however, while I noticed the issue as some people were reporting that 905 had been pushed out to them, I hadn't gotten 905 yet and was still on 902 when it started, and 902 had been perfectly fine to that point. So what changed? The phone hadn't. If 902 was bad, why did it not have problems before? The only thing I can think of is network changes. I have also notices some VERY slow speeds, both 3G and 4G the last couple of days. They have gotten a little better, but 4G should still be getting more than 7.5Mb/s down and 2Mb/s up. And considering I have not hot 1GB for the month that I am 20 days into, I seriously doubt Verizon is throttling me personally for some reason.

Will ICS fix this problem? Well, people who have flashed it in areas that had problems see their problems cleared up. This is another sign that this is a software/network issue.

It's also clear this isn't limited to just Motorola phones. People on the Nexus and other phones have had the same issues. What's the solution? I don't know, only Verizon does and they choose to bury their heads, at least to the customers. Some people report talking to customer service reps who acknowledge the problem, but most people seem to be told there is no known issue. But if Verizon doesn't get a hold of this soon, they are going to drive away a lot more people.

 

[Thom]

.. and I find it funny that 5' would make that much of a difference, not saying it couldnt, but come on...

As I said, it was the worst case ever reported here. It was apparently due to the construction of the building.

The lesson here is that the subject is VERY complex and in the worst case you ever heard was narrowed down to 5 feet.

I think it is a combination of tower and device and not all models are the same with every release of software.

When I got my Bionic on release day (September) Verizon told me 4G was coming to town in December. When I checked in February Verizon told me 4G was coming to town in De cementer.

I think the conclusion here is ... stupid me ... I never asked "what year?"

I'm still here at 3G ... on the other hand ... I get a data drop about once every three months.

... Thom

 

[xmr405o]

I said the same thing when I had the Motorola Q. Now that was a crap phone! I didn't like Motorola after having that phone.

I ended up getting the D1 though I swore never to buy another Motorola phone. That turned out to be a great experience for me. I loved my D1. As for the Bionic, for the most part it has been an enjoyable experience except when the .905 update rolled out. After that update, that's when I started experiencing data drop after data drop.

The ICS leaks have made it a lot better but that doesn't excuse VZW or Motorola for making the Bionic owners wait this long. So I understand the frustration that people who have the .905 radios and are experiencing data drops.

So when VZW approves the ICS update and you still have your Bionic, I hope the rest of your days/months with the Bionic are more enjoyable.

My advice- I wouldn't shun Motorola phones altogether. I'd keep an open mind but still carry a cautious thought prior to getting my next phone. All phones can have issues even the Nexus devices so steering away from one manufacturer doesn't guarantee a positive experience.

Good luck, Charlie!

 

[PowerBomb]

I've had the opposite experience with the Bionic, zero issues. I always lag behind what's current though, I've only owned a Bionic since Feb of this year. I lag behind the current market 1) because I'm cheap and things will be cheaper when you don't buy what's brand new and 2) I probably miss out on a lot of initial bugs and issues. Bionic cost me 20 bucks certified preowned and I've never seen a data drop or a hissing headphone jack or any of the other problems I've heard about. Okay maybe less than a handful of times I can recall pulling the phone out of my pocket and seeing that I didn't have a data connection, but I've always messed around with ROMs and leaks so I have no way of knowing if it wasn't just some of the different unofficial stuff I installed not working. 99% of the time that I have owned this phone I have had full bars 4G signal with no issue.

I do wish Moto would unlock the bootloaders and I do think they release phones way too often and leave their own products in the dust. But I came from an LG Ally and I can definitely say I don't think I'll ever get an LG again. Samsungs don't seem all that great, they get the direct Google Android treatment and they have nice screens but I've always thought their build quality sucks and feels cheap, and on the Sammys that don't have the pure Google experience, they come up with some really ugly overlays for Android and I think their menus and icons are hideous. HTC seems alright I guess. Moto isn't perfect but they aren't the worst.

At least they offer to exchange phones. It strikes me kind of funny when you see people complaining that they got 5 phones to try to solve problems. Better than being told "sorry your one phone is broken and not our problem". I can't count how many people I've heard on here saying they've had 4 or 5 Bionics at no charge. Yes depending on how you look at it, it sucks needing to try 5 different devices to solve your problem, but also the fact that Moto is sending you 5 different Bionics is pretty considerate and shows that they realize they do have some issues and they need to treat the costumer right and try to fix it.

Also the complaints about Android updates seem to bug people a little too much. It's not like not having ICS renders the phone useless or that it changes it all that much. Yes it does suck that some other devices already got it and we still don't. But you can install a leak if it's that much of an issue. Locked bootloader or not we still have a dev community that provides us with some great tricks. Whether or not Moto sucks, I have a Bionic that already has ICS, already running Google Now which shouldn't really work until Jellybean, so the Bionic is keeping up pretty well.

 

[Adara]

It strikes me kind of funny when you see people complaining that they got 5 phones to try to solve problems. Better than being told "sorry your one phone is broken and not our problem". I can't count how many people I've heard on here saying they've had 4 or 5 Bionics at no charge. Yes depending on how you look at it, it sucks needing to try 5 different devices to solve your problem, but also the fact that Moto is sending you 5 different Bionics is pretty considerate and shows that they realize they do have some issues and they need to treat the costumer right and try to fix it.

It's a perspective thing. To me, the fact that I'm on my third means that that Bionic, more than any other phone I've owned, is unreliable. I certainly don't give Moto points for replacing it -- the first one was within the initial warranty when it dropped dead, so VZW had to replace it. As for the second, they replaced it with another one experiencing the same problem. I can't tell you how much that pissed me off, because I lost all my app data and had to start all over again for nothing. And it sure isn't VZW realizing that it needs to "treat the costumer right and try to fix it" as it didn't fix the problem at all. It was VZW giving me a new Bionic after they refused to admit a problem (their network tech support, which was supposed to "solve the problem in 48 hours or somebody loses a job" was a joke -- concluding, after about a week, that data drops I've experienced all over LA and beyond were apparently due to me not having good coverage at my house). You tell them over and over again that the problem is not isolated to your particular Bionic (thanks to these forums here) and they tell you to do a factory reset, then send you a new SIM card, then replace your Bionic, then ultimately offer to swap you out to a RAZR (a deal I almost took, until I realized the RAZR's limitations regarding battery removal, not to mention the amount of money it would cost me in a new car dock and media cradle). None of this is VZW's attempt to actually fix the problem -- while others have had different experiences with VZW on the data drops, the half-dozen techs I have spoken to (hours out of my life) have always denied that the problem exists, and said that all they could do is send me a new phone (which, as noted above, didn't fix the damn problem at all).

Honestly, the only thing that kept me from throwing the damn phone out the window was you guys helping me flash .232.

Looking back over it, I now realize I should have seen the warning signs on the Bionic -- like its massive delay in release and the limited marketing Moto and VZW did on it. This was never intended (or, at least, by the time it got released, it was never intended) to be a flagship phone, and I think the support suffers because of it. Moto and VZW turned their attention to the RAZR, and treat the Bionic like an unwanted step-child.

 

[charlie310]

If I also didn't have any issues with the Bionic, I would have few complaints.

BTW, all smartphone manufacturer's will exchange your phone. So, it's not like Motorola is special in that regard. You just don't hear about the other manufacturer's exchanging phones because, well..... their phones work well and don't need to be exchanged.

People are justified to being upset at the lack of updates. ICS is a different OS, so of course it's going to be alot different. Plus, alot fixes are in this update. Plus most people don't root their phones. Plus, flashing a new ROM is much more difficult on the Bionic than any other Samsung smartphone.

I don't see how you can argue "Samsung's OS isn't good" and "Just flash ICS on your Bionic" in the same post. You know, you can flash any custom ROM on Samsungs with great ease (so you can make it a Motorola/HTC OS), but you are very limited to what you can flash on your Bionic (plus it is much more difficult to do so).

The only reason why I haven't flashed the leak was because the official update was suppose to be released in the beginning of the 3rd quarter. We're actually coming close to September, which I consider to be the end of the 3rd quarter.

 

[freedomfighter]

To be honest I hate Motorola devices too...I really want the samsung galaxy s3...but i just got my contract with Verizon and don't want to pay 600 bucks...I bought the bionic because it was cheap

 

[Thom]

IMNHO you lucked into the best phone.

I've been with the Bionic since the hour it was released through all its growing pains and it is an incredible device. It is easily twice as powerful as the first main frame computer I was paid to program.

4G is still being "ironed out" and if you can't put up with the instability you need to go back to 3G. I am in a 3G-only area and it has been rock solid for months.

You can pretty much tell when 4G is REALLY ready ... it will be the day the iPhone is released that supports 4G.

... Thom

 

[wildkitten]

IMNHO you lucked into the best phone.

I've been with the Bionic since the hour it was released through all its growing pains and it is an incredible device. It is easily twice as powerful as the first main frame computer I was paid to program.

4G is still being "ironed out" and if you can't put up with the instability you need to go back to 3G. I am in a 3G-only area and it has been rock solid for months.

You can pretty much tell when 4G is REALLY ready ... it will be the day the iPhone is released that supports 4G.

... Thom

You know, that's an interesting comment you make about the iPhone and 4G. Every cell company seems to worship the iPhone, so is it possible the issues we are seeing is Verizon playing with the network to try to make sure it's ready for the iPhone 5?

 

[Thom]

I think it is a case of Apple waiting until 4G stabilizes.

The Bionic was on the leading edge of the 4G roll-out and was the device that encountered all the problems as a result.

This computer in my pocket is simply awesome. The environment in which it is forced to operate is absurd. It is pretty clear to me that little to no thought was given to the 3G to 4G and 4G to 3G handoff problems before the Bionic was released. They all had to be learned "the hard way".

So ... it was true then and it is true now ... if stability is an absolute requirement for whatever you are doing ... get off of 4G and get on 3G ... EXACTLY the same way Apple is doing it.

As for bad devices ... the one in my shirt pocket is the original and it is rock solid ... since release there were maybe eight reports of bad devices flooding an area. These could have been mis diagnosed tower problems. The Radio Shack fiasco was the only for sure report of bad devices.

There is essentially no support at Verizon. How could there be with the sheer number of devices they sell? Their approach is always the same ... do a factory data reset and if you still have the problem replace it. We (the outside non-Motorola user community) got them to swap out the SIM cards. There were apparently batches of bad SIM cards and a lot of the problems disappeared when they were swapped. (Mine is the original SIM card that was installed at the store and neither of us knew at the time what in hell a SIM card was [mine was the first Bionic they sold].)

And ... my GUESS is that there is some dumb piece of bloatware that is having problems when Verizon tried it on ICS and is the reason for the hold-up.

My prediction for ICS is still 2012.09.12 and is based on no inside information.

Don't jump on the OTA when it comes out. Remember the Droid X. Let someone verify that you can root it before installing the OTA. Even if you don't root now you may find that you want to root in a month or two. That and the prevention of reverting to an earlier version made the Droid X terrible after the last OTA for it was released.

... Thom

 

[Adara]

I wasn't able to buy my Bionic the day it was released because I was a week or so away from my renewal date with VZW.

That said, I was checking my receipt today, and it appears that I acquired this thing (well, the first one) on September 13, 2011. An ICS release on 9/12 would be a lovely little birthday present for my phone.

In any event, I thought the Thunderbolt was the first 4G phone on VZW. That was 6 months ahead of the Bionic, and one would've hoped it would have been the 4G guinea pig. How freakin' long does it take to iron out the bugs?

(Yes, I know, I'm just bitching now. The fact is, I loved my Bionic before the data drops, and I sorta love it again on ICS, but the whole experience has left me counting the days until I can leave it -- and very possibly VZW as well.)

 

[Thom]

I've seen a lot of people pull the plug and go to the iPhone. What they failed to realize was that they could have run their Bionic at 3G only and got the same result without the iPhone constraints.

When you look at the hardware ... the Motorola phones have the defacto best voice quality of anything on the market.

... Thom

 

[Adara]

Well, THAT I would never do. Android FTW!

 

[charlie310]

Sorry Thom, but I have to disagree with many of your comments. You are obviously biased (no offense).

No, we didn't "luck out on the best phone". Better smartphones are being released on a monthly basis, so any phone released in 2011 is obviously not going to be the best, regardless of what brand/model it is.

You admitted to not living in a LTE area, so I don't understand how you came up with your theory that the LTE network, itself, is what's wrong, not the Bionic. I can tell you from 1st hand experience that it's definitely not the network that's wrong (at least most of the time).

Your other theory that "4G is not ready until the iPhone supports it" really makes no sense. If Apple is still willing to release phones on AT&T where calls and data drops are the norm, then I highly doubt the reason they didn't adopt LTE was because it was "unstable". Plus, if you just think about it logically, that theory makes absolutely no sense. Just FYI, 4G and LTE are completely different.

What you failed to realize is that the people are switching to the iPhone for good reasons. The iPhone lasts longer. The Apple "constraints" actually make it a less buggy phone. And probably the main reason is the ease of use. I, personally, would never get an iPhone because it's overpriced hardware running on a close-source OS.

Your claim that "Motorola phones have the defacto best voice quality of anything on the market" is a bold statement with no proof. I have tried HTC, Samsung, iPhone, and Motorola, and I believe it all depends on the phone model. Even then, it is really hard to tell which has the "best voice quality". Most people would agree that the "call reception" is a more important factor to voice quality than anything. Remeber the whole "antenna design flaw" of the iPhone?

What I will say is that Motorola smartphones do tend to have louder speakers. But saying "it's the best phone", and "Motorola phones have the best voice quality hands down", and "it's the LTE network, that's why Apple doesn't have 4G/LTE phones" is so biased. Just like how you think ICS will release on a 9/12 "based on no inside info."

 

[wildkitten]

Sorry Thom, but I have to disagree with many of your comments. You are obviously biased (no offense).

No, we didn't "luck out on the best phone". Better smartphones are being released on a monthly basis, so any phone released in 2011 is obviously not going to be the best, regardless of what brand/model it is.

You admitted to not living in a LTE area, so I don't understand how you came up with your theory that the LTE network, itself, is what's wrong, not the Bionic. I can tell you from 1st hand experience that it's definitely not the network that's wrong (at least most of the time).

Your other theory that "4G is not ready until the iPhone supports it" really makes no sense. If Apple is still willing to release phones on AT&T where calls and data drops are the norm, then I highly doubt the reason they didn't adopt LTE was because it was "unstable". Plus, if you just think about it logically, that theory makes absolutely no sense. Just FYI, 4G and LTE are completely different.

What you failed to realize is that the people are switching to the iPhone for good reasons. The iPhone lasts longer. The Apple "constraints" actually make it a less buggy phone. And probably the main reason is the ease of use. I, personally, would never get an iPhone because it's overpriced hardware running on a close-source OS.

Your claim that "Motorola phones have the defacto best voice quality of anything on the market" is a bold statement with no proof. I have tried HTC, Samsung, iPhone, and Motorola, and I believe it all depends on the phone model. Even then, it is really hard to tell which has the "best voice quality". Most people would agree that the "call reception" is a more important factor to voice quality than anything. Remeber the whole "antenna design flaw" of the iPhone?

What I will say is that Motorola smartphones do tend to have louder speakers. But saying "it's the best phone", and "Motorola phones have the best voice quality hands down", and "it's the LTE network, that's why Apple doesn't have 4G/LTE phones" is so biased. Just like how you think ICS will release on a 9/12 "based on no inside info."

I would like to see your evidence that you base your comment that it's not the network most of the time, would be an interesting read. Because from what I have seen, it is almost always the network. The Bionic is not the only phone with issues. Every 4G phone has had the same issue at one time or another, the Nexus, the Razr's, all of them.

I don't know why you are so insistent that this is a Bionic only issue. If the Bionic was a bad phone, 889 and 902 would not have cleared things up. The ICS leaks also wouldn't have cleared things up. But the fact is, it wasn't even 905 that messed things up. While the latest round of data issues coincides with 905's release to soak test, I was on 902 when the data issues began, at the same time they did for many, so it is impossible that it was a 905 issue and had to be network side.

 

[doogald]

4. Motorola releases new smartphones so often that any phone you buy from them will be left in the dust. The few developers willing to develop this phone abandoned the Bionic as soon as the Razr was released a month later.

To be fair, the rapid development of phones by Motorola is no longer happening. I believe that the large number of new models last year was due to the rollout of LTE by Verizon - Verizon wanted to get all phones for sale in their stores on LTE ASAP and they are the ones who ordered these devices from Motorola. Then, early this year, Motorola said that they were going to slow down new model introductions. Since then, the Google purchase of the company closed, and that statement seems to have come true - the new device rumored to come out next month will be the first new Moto device on Verizon since the Droid 4 in February and the third phone this year (Verizon tends to have one keyboard and at least one non-keyboard high-end Moto Droid for sale at any time.)

Also, Hashcode continues to hammer away at new kexec based kernels to bring advanced builds to the Bionic. The phone was not abandoned by him.